Seoul (AFP)

The world's second-largest semiconductor maker SK Hynix on Tuesday said it had reached a $ 9 billion deal to acquire Intel's NAND chip business in a bid to strengthen its position against the giant Samsung.

SK Hynix is ​​the world number 2 in DRAM memory chips, used in computers and servers, and in electronic chips in general.

However, the manufacturer is lagging behind in the category of NAND Flash memory chips, used in particular in smartphones, USB keys, industrial and medical equipment.

He said he would buy "the entire NAND business division" of Intel "excluding the Optane division" for more than 10,000 billion won, or some $ 9 billion.

This agreement should allow the South Korean manufacturer to now represent more than 23% of the market share and to move to second position ahead of the Japanese Kioxia and the American Western Digital, according to figures from the specialist firm Trendforce.

The market for NAND and DRAM chips is dominated by South Korean giant Samsung Electronics, and global demand for the chips has driven the profits of both South Korean companies up in recent years.

Samsung and SK Hynix are in competition to supply chips to companies like the American Apple, Dell and HP, but also to Chinese companies.

The company that founded SK Hynix was originally part of the powerful Hyundai Group, one of the main chaebols of South Korea, the world's twelfth largest economy.

In 2012, following a multibillion-dollar merger, the semiconductor maker joined SK Group, the country's third largest conglomerate, led by Chey Tae-Won, son-in-law of the former South Korean President Roh Tae-Woo.

SK Hynix, now a fully-fledged company, is the second largest company listed on the Seoul Stock Exchange, behind Samsung Electronics.

© 2020 AFP